Disclaimer – Bleach and all related characters used in this fanfic are property of Tite Kubo-sama. Katsuro is an original character property of the authors of this fan fiction. However, he is based on character relations in Bleach.
Chapter 1Kuchiki Byakuya walked through the gardens of the Kuchiki household, eyes glazed over as he lost himself in memories. It seemed not so long ago when he went to the academy, hearing that Hisana's younger sister was there. He could remember how nervous and excited he was. Finally, he would be able to fulfill his promise to his beloved wife.
Byakuya waited silently in the room, waiting and listening to the older men speak to one another. Once in a while, he would nod but didn't say anything. His mind was elsewhere. What would she look like? Would she look like her older sister? Would she even accept his want to adopt her? Under his clothing, his fists clenched, the only sign of his nervousness. His face remained calm and serene. But that wasn't the case at all.
As she entered the room she tensed and her large eyes shone vivid violet with surprise at the presence of the men. One of the elders plastered something resembling a warm smile across his face and beckoned her to come. Gripping her books tightly, Rukia crept to them. Scanning the strangers, her eyes skimmed over the gray-haired elders and fell upon the youngest, who was staring back at her. Something about his eyes made her even more uncomfortable and she quickly looked away toward the man who had drawn her over.
Byakuya bit his tongue. Truly, this girl was Hisana's sister. They had the same face, the same eyes… even the same hair and physique. There was no question about it. But why had she looked away? Was he intimidating to her. With an effort, he suppressed his reiatsu and watched her. One of the old men cleared his throat roughly and began to speak. But the young lord hardly paid attention. He could only watch the young girl in front of him, hoping that she would accept.
"Adopt…me?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly for some reason. She silently gulped in an effort to steady it. However, her body betrayed her again and her eyes darted back to the young man before flicking back to the speaker. She was becoming more and more self-conscious as she realized the man was watching her intently.
"Yes that is correct. We will give you three days to think about it," the old man wheezed, holding up three fingers. Byakuya blinked. That wasn't very long.
"A week," he intervened. The old men jumped at his sudden statement and stared at him then glared at Rukia.
She instinctively stepped back, shocked at the sudden hostility with which he looked at her. Again her eyes acted on their own yet again as they shot toward the young man. But instead of averting them she stood frozen, looking him directly in the eye, confused and shaken.
"I would like to have your answer in one week," Byakuya said softly, almost gently, tempted to send the old men out of the room. They annoyed him. "Is that understood?"
Rukia could feel the increasing reiatsu slowly pressing on her body and could not bring herself to verbally respond. She silently nodded, still not taking her eyes off him.
In a week, Rukia had accepted. Byakuya sighed softly and stopped in his steps. The girl seemed so intimidated by him… It was saddening, but he couldn't let himself get too close. After all, she must never find out who his wife was.
When he didn't move for a while, Rukia quietly slid the door shut and walked back into the center of her spacious room. It was strange, she had accepted the proposal to be adopted into his family, but so far her older brother hadn't said more than a few words to her. As she watched him, she couldn't help but feel that he didn't want her here and she had decided that it must have been the decision of the older men that had come to meet her. Though she could not think of a reason as to why she was chosen. Even though she excelled in her courses, she had not been in the advanced classes with Renji, nor had she done anything particularly worthy of nobility, having grown up a scamp in Rukongai. She sighed heavily and pulled at the sleeves of her new shihakushou as she examined herself in the mirror.
"Oi, Rukia," drawled out a voice of a young boy. He was fairly young, looking around fifteen, slender and pale. He almost looked like Byakuya save for the haughty smirk that adorned his face and his masculinity. In fact, he looked almost like a girl himself when he was standing next to Byakuya.
"Katsuro-sama," she replied and bowed slightly, "What brings you here this early?" Rukia addressed her cousin with respect, regardless of the fact that they were now related. She knew he hardly supported the idea of her being accepted into the family and had resolved to not give him any more reasons to hate her.
Katsuro frowned. Clearly this wasn't the reaction he had wanted.
"No reason…" he muttered. Then he paused and smiled coldly at her, "Enjoying the view?"
"Very much so, Katsuro-sama. The gardens are very beautiful."
"Any better with Byakuya-sama there?"
Rather tempted to kick his feet out from under him and set him sprawling on the ground, Rukia clenched her jaw but didn't respond.
Katsuro smirked. "I sure hope you aren't thinking of incest," he sneered.
"Katsuro. It isn't proper for a man to be in a room with a young lady alone." Byakuya had silently appeared in the doorway behind the boy. His grey-blue eyes were sharp and cold in his irritation. Katsuro jumped, stammered an apology and hurried out.
Rukia was sure that thanking Byakuya would seem extremely rude, so she simply bowed. "Good morning, Byakuya-sama."
The older man regarded her a moment.
"Good morning, Rukia. Sleep well?" he inquired softly.
"Yes, sir. Thank you."
Byakuya gave a small nod before silently walking away. Once out of sight, he sighed heavily and put a hand over his eyes. This was harder than he thought…
Standing alone again, Rukia stared sadly at the floor. "Do I really belong here?" she asked the tatami mat. When it did not respond, she walked slowly out into the hallway to find breakfast.
()o()o()o()
"Rukia." Byakuya approached her after breakfast and pulled her aside to talk to her, well aware that Katsuro was taking his time leaving the room.
"Byakuya-sama? What is it?"
"I want you to continue your schooling. So you will be trained by Ukitake-taichou's fukutaichou, Kaien." Byakuya watched Rukia's face for her reaction. She was as expressive as Hisana used to be.
His vigilance was rewarded with a wide-eyed look of surprise. "Ukitake-taichou? Thirteenth Division Captain?" Suddenly grateful for having been required to memorize the names of the captains in class, Rukia wondered why she couldn't just continue schooling at the Shinigami Academy. Choosing not to voice this question, she nodded and responded politely, "yes, sir."
Byakuya was grateful that she didn't show fear or any other emotion like that. Surprise was all right.
"Very well. I will inform Kaien-fukutaichou this afternoon," he stated.
"Thank you, sir. Then, if you'll excuse me," she bowed and quickly left the dining hall. Katsuro had been still hanging around, obviously watching her and Byakuya like a hawk and she wanted very much to escape his talons. She slipped outside into the gardens where her brother had been walking earlier and sighed. The morning had been very stressful, having felt everyone's eyes on her during breakfast, and she was glad to be alone in the quiet yard. Slowly strolling along the path that wound through the plants, she came upon a small wooden bench that sat directly underneath a sakura tree. When she reached it, she lightly brushed away the petals and as they scattered she sat down to gazed up at the pink blossoms. "So pretty," she murmured, "All these nobles are like these flowers… perfect and beautiful. I'm like a weed in their garden." She groaned softly and lay down on the bench, "Why am I here?"
Byakuya, however, had followed her. But he shielded himself so he could simply watch her to see how she acted when no one was around. When he heard her speak, it was very quiet and he had a hard time hearing what she was saying. But when he was able to listen, it hurt very deeply inside. For a moment, he stood there behind the lilac tree before gliding away, wondering what he should do.
()o()o()o()
"Yo, Kuchiki!" Kaien's usual welcome seemed to warm Rukia. The numbness from earlier seemed to slowly melt away. Even though she had just met her vice captain a few days ago, she already felt that he accepted her as a person, and not just the noble that she had been pressured into being. "Bya-kun said I should give you some training," he grinned.
"Bya…kun?" Rukia asked, startled at her brother's pet name.
Kaien adopted an overly dramatic shocked expression and pouted, "Wha? You've been living with him for a week now and Bya-kun never mentioned anything about our great adventures together as kids?! How cruel."
Trying to imagine her mostly silent and cold older brother off having "great adventures" with her melodramatic vice captain, Rukia could only stammer, "Uh...N…No, sir."
Byakuya had closed his eyes at the pet name and 'patiently' listened to their conversation.
"Kaien-fukutaichou," he finally said, very quietly, very sternly, "I would appreciate it if you didn't use that name. Especially not in front of my younger sister."
"So mean!" Kaien pouted, but after receiving a frigid glare, he snickered quietly before turning back to Rukia. "Righ', then. Like I was saying. Bya-ku… Onii-chan, said that I should train you." He grinned evilly and glanced at Byakuya.
The other man glared at Kaien. "Rukia, I expect you to maintain a level of respect for your trainer since he is above you in class. For now. Do not drop to his level," he told his sister while still glaring at Kaien.
"Y-yes, sir," she replied as she watched her fukutaichou giggle quietly.
Byakuya rolled his eyes. "I'll be having a talk with Uketake-taichou shortly then," he stated. He turned to Rukia, put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Behave well, Rukia."
She bowed slightly, "Yes, sir."
"I'll be back later." Then the head of the Kuchiki household walked off. Kaien whistled.
"How do you live with him?" he whispered to Rukia, eyes wide.
"E-excuse me?"
"Ah, well… It just seems to me like you're both really formal to each other for being siblings an' all," he shrugged. When Rukia didn't reply and he saw her sad expression, he stopped. After a moment, he smiled understandingly and ruffled her hair, "Don' worry about it. Let's get to that training!"
Rukia was shocked. She had been sure he was going to question her about her living conditions, but he had suddenly dropped the subject and smiled at her. The warm feeling from before washed over her again and she couldn't help but smile. "Yes, sir!"
()o()o()o()
Byakuya couldn't stop worrying about Rukia while she was gone. He kept wondering if a Hollow would attack or if another shinigami started to pick on her. As a result, he tuned out Katsuro when he was talking at lunch and was brought back into the world by a sudden crashing of dishes. Stressed and irritated, he quietly got up and left the room.
Hours later, he came by again to pick up Rukia and to see her progress. As he approached, Kaien grinned and waved him over.
"Onii-chan!" he called, "Come to pick up lil' Kuchiki, have we?"
"I have," Byakuya confirmed, "How is her progress?"
"She's been doing really well for someone whose been out of school for over a week," he said, patting her on the head. Rukia bowed slightly as her brother walked up.
A faint smile curved Byakuya's lips, but was gone in a moment.
"I'm glad to hear that. We'll be by tomorrow," he told Kaien before beckoning Rukia to his side.
She trotted over to him and turned to face her fukutaichou, "Thank you for your help, Kaien-donno."
He smiled gave a little two-fingered salute from his temple, "See ya' tomorrow, then."
Byakuya nodded to Kaien.
"Thank you," he said before gently leading Rukia away, "What did you learn today?"
Slightly startled by the question, Rukia suddenly got the feeling that she was being quizzed. "Um… Kaien-dono helped me to review simple kido as well as some basic zanpakutou skills," she couldn't help but feel that from her overview, it didn't seem like she had accomplished much of anything during her first lesson and she felt ashamed to be relating it to Byakuya.
"Good. No problems I assume?" That question had been bothering him for the past few hours. Nothing had gone wrong right?
"No, sir."
Byakuya exhaled.
"Good." Then there was a silence. A stifling silence that set Rukia on edge in a way. But at the same time, she was relieved that she didn't have to answer any more questions. She stared at the ground in front of her as they walked.
Byakuya opened his mouth to speak. Then his courage left him and he sighed and closed his mouth again. He wanted to get close to her as a brother should. But… it seemed so hard.
"He sighed. Why did he sigh?" she thought to herself frantically. Had she been right? Was he disappointed in the work she'd done today? "I'll work harder with Kaien-dono, tomorrow, sir," she said hastily.
Byakuya blinked and glanced down at her.
"No, no. Well… I mean, I want you to work harder, but I'm not disappointed in you."
Now, being utterly confused, Rukia returned her gaze to the ground, having looked up at her brother when he had replied, and nodded wordlessly. If he wasn't disappointed, then what was the sigh for? After a great deal of hesitation, she ventured to ask, "Um… How… How was your day?"
"It was uneventful…" Byakuya paused before saying, "I was worried about you though…"
Rukia's eyes widened and she looked up at her brother again. "Worried? About me?" she asked herself, though she couldn't bring herself to ask the question aloud. She just stared dumbly at him.
"I don't want anyone causing trouble for you. You're my little sister," Byakuya continued, his voice getting softer.
"Onii-chan…" As soon as the word came out of her mouth she realized what she had said and she immediately covered her mouth and blushed darkly, her eyes wide with a sort of fright.
Byakuya looked down at her then back up, swallowing. Was he getting too close too fast?
"I'm so sorry," she whispered almost inaudibly. She couldn't seem to tear her hands from in front of her mouth as she spoke, "It's just… Kaien-dono… the name… I…" she bit her hand, "I'm so sorry…"
"I don't understand why you're apologizing…" Byakuya said quietly, closing his grey eyes for a moment.
The constant flow of shock was starting to hurt Rukia's head. She gulped silently to get a hold of her voice before replying.
"When… Kaien-dono called you that… You… You didn't seem… Very pleased… I'm sorry."
"Ah." Byakuya shook his head, "The way Kaien said it was different. He was taunting me."
Rukia studied her brother for a few moments before nodding curtly. "I'm sorry, sir."
Byakuya exhaled softly.
"It's all right," he assured her, lightly placing his hand on her shoulder, "Come, dinner should be ready by now."
She nodded again and followed behind him as he continued walking. Staring at the ground she felt the spot where he had touched her shoulder prickle and she held back a slight shudder. Surely he had just been trying to comfort her in some fashion, yet why was her body rejecting it? This cold shiver wasn't the sort of feeling that she got when Renji had touched her. Why should it be different for her new brother? She looked up to make sure he wasn't looking, and then quickly reached up and massaged the spot before dropping her hands back to her sides again.
It was silence until they got home. Katsuro practically pounced on Byakuya and started rambling about the things he'd done that day. Byakuya didn't bat an eye as he passed the boy, obviously thinking of something else.
Rukia also tried to ignore him as she pushed her way toward her room on the pretense that she needed to "freshen up" for dinner.
"It's not over Rukia," Katsuro growled as she passed before he stormed off.
When she got to her room she slid the door shut behind her and fell to the floor with a heavy sigh. The side of her face resting on the rough tatami mat, she stared blankly at the wall. Oniichan. She mouthed the word silently. After a moment she quickly sat up and shock her head violently. She loosened her obi just enough to slide the off outer layer of her shihakushou, leaving the white nagajuban. She draped it over a chair and grabbed a small towel before stopping infront of her mirror.
Looking at herself, she didn't think she looked all that much different. It was simply the background that was different. She no longer saw the trees and sky of Rukongai or the busy dorm in the shinigami academy. Now a quiet, clean, perfect backdrop of wealth and class shown behind her. She hit the mirror lightly with her towel, as if the reflection would ripple away like water to reveal the life she had only a few weeks prior. When it did not, she walked away into the adjoining bath and slowly closed the door.
Later, dinner was served but Byakuya had to leave early to attend to some family business. That left Rukia and Katsuro. Katsuro wasn't pleased to be left with Rukia and showed it.
Rukia wasn't particularly happy to be in the situation either, and she continued to pick at the remains of her dinner as an excuse not to make eye contact.
"So… Rukia…" Katsuro said softly.
"Sir?" she replied without taking her eyes off her plate.
"What's it like being trained by an older man? Does he say things to you?" Katsuro purred, smirking.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Katsuro-sama," Rukia said flatly, trying not to sound as irritated as she felt.
"Is he comfortable with you now?" Katsuro pressed.
Rukia stabbed a piece of meat especially hard and ate it without answering.
"Do you like him?" Katsuro continued to question.
"Why does it concern you so much, Katsuro-sama? Surely you have other things to talk about that are far more interesting than my tutoring."
"No reason. Just asking," Katsuro responded smugly.
"How was your day, then, sir?" It was Rukia's turn to push the conversation but instead of searching for answers she was trying to lead the topic away from herself.
"It was boring. But I was able to up my spiritual powers," the boy boasted haughtily.
"That's good," she said with a tone of fake enthusiasm that she hoped Katsuro didn't recognize, "You're very strong, sir."
"I know," Katsuro said, smirking to himself. Obviously he was too shallow to see the fake enthusiasm.
This fact greatly relived Rukia and she continued to compliment her cousin. Understanding that feeding his ego would probably end up hurting her in the long run, now she simply wanted to get him off her case.
After quite a few minutes of conversation centered on Katsuro, Rukia stood to leave. "Well, if you will excuse me Katsuro-sama. I'm rather tired from my training today and I would like to get some rest."
"Oh. Yeah, okay," Katsuro responded absently, also standing.
"Good night, then." After a half-bow, she hurried out of the dining all and down the corridor to her room.
A few minutes later, a soft knock sounded at Rukia's door. Having been napping near her window, wearing only her white under-kimono as a top, Rukia jumped at the sound, snatched the rest of her shihakushou from her bed, and pulled it around her shoulders before calling to the guest that they could enter.
"I'm sorry… Did I wake you?" Byakuya asked quietly as he entered the room.
"No, sir. I was just…" she trailed off in the middle of the sentence and motioned vaguely toward the window seat.
"Please… don't call me sir…" Byakuya requested after a moment, staying near the doorway.
Unsure of what she was supposed to say, Rukia turned to face him with an unconcealed look of confusion.
Byakuya met her gaze squarely. "You're my sister. You're part of my family… you don't have to call me sir, please don't."
Her heart jumped awkwardly as their eyes met. "Then… What… Um…"
"If it suits you, you may call me Onii-chan if you wish. But saying 'sir' makes it sound like you're a stranger. You are far from a stranger, Kuchiki Rukia. You're my sister…"
Rukia's eyes widened and she blushed lightly. There was a sudden pressure in her chest and she clutched her shihakushou tighter, sure that her heartbeat could be seen. She couldn't take her eyes away from his. "Onii…sama…" she whispered.
A smile twitched at the corners of Byakuya's mouth and he had to force himself to remain stoic. But the lighting made it seem like he was smiling.
"I'll leave you to sleep. Goodnight Rukia," he murmured before disappearing from the room.
When she could no longer hear his light footsteps padding down the hall, Rukia's knees failed her and she dropped to the floor. What in the world was going on? Why was she blushing? Certainly it was simply because she had been paid a compliment by being accepted as part of such a high-class noble family. Then why was her heart beating so strangely? She searched for a memory of this feeling to find that the only other time she could recall it was a few weeks ago when Byakuya had first come to meet her at the school. So the heartbeat was simply a result of having been caught off guard, wasn't it? Nothing more. Why should it be anything more?
With a tad bit of difficulty, she stood and walked to the bath where she splashed cool water on her face. She dried herself with a small hand towel and then looked up at her reflection yet again. This time, however, instead of being surprised at seeing the wealthy backdrop, she smiled. "Maybe I can belong here after all," she told the mirror. She walked back into her room and crawled into her bed. Staring out the window, she mouthed, "Onii-sama." A soft, relieved smile set upon her face as she closed her eyes.
Katsuro watched as Byakuya closed the door to his own room and the light went out. He frowned. This wasn't good. At this rate, Byakuya will send him away so he can pay better attention to Rukia. He frowned deeper and narrowed his eyes. There was no way in hell that he would let some mangy street-girl take his place in the Kuchiki household!
Author's Comments:
From the collaboration of authors that brought you "Protect," comes a brand new story of siblings struggling to find peace with one another. Yay! This won't be quite the plot-moving-action-filled fanfiction that "Protect" was, but we hope you'll like it anyway. As a last note, like "Protect," this is a role play fan fiction and it is written as such. Each character has their own "paragraph" where the author wrote for said character.
Translation Notes: When we write our fanfictions we use many Japanese words and suffixes and tend to forget that not everyone knows what they mean. So here's a quick explaination of words used in this chapter.
shihakushou - the Bleach shinigami outfit
-sama - a highly respectful name suffix. "Katsuro-sama" would be similar to "Lord Katsuro."
-kun - a friendly name suffix used primarily for young men.
-dono - a respectful name suffix.
Onii-chan - a very friendly and childish pet name for an older brother. Similar to "big bro."
Onii-sama - a mix between "Onii-chan" and the suffix "-sama." Used by Rukia in the series when addressing Byakuya.
taichou - Captain
fukutaichou - Vice Captain
Regarding pairings: Technically, there are NO pairings in this fan fiction. We aren't writing this with the intention of writing ByaRuki fics. We are writing because the Kuchiki siblings are the most adorable siblings on the face of the planet. If the readers wish to see it as ByaRuki, so be it. If they wish to see it as Kuchiki siblings, so be it.
Regarding the nickname "Bya-kun."It's an allusion to a dropped fanfic of ours, "Those Younger Days." You can find it on my account.
PLEASE RxR. Thanks!